Print-drying machine.



STATES PATENT OFFICE.

n. s'momanae, or NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF 'ro nnwannn.

scnmxoxme, or NEW roan, N. Y.

ieaauo.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit. known that I, WILLIAM E. STROM- 'BERG, a. citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at New York, county and State of New l York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Print-Drying Machines,

of which the following is. a specification.

This invention relates to machines for dr in photographic prints; andthe generallo ject of the invention is to increase the eflicieney of amechanical print drier in point of adapting the same to operate upon anddeliver in a dry condition,- 111 a given length f'time,.a greater numberof prints than has heretofore. been'possible with a machine of thiskind.And to this end the'invention resides arranging the print carrier withsuch. ielationto the'heated drier that the 20. carr1e-oyerthe hottestportion of the drier. Qthen objects-will ap ear and be better understoodfrom-that em odixncut of my in vention 'ot'which the followin is aspecificati'omfeference being had: to t e accompanying dm wings formingpart hereof, and in which:

1,.is a perspective view of the inwritten...

Fig. 2;, is. a" detail front elevation of one of. the

l The; pnnt; carrier of this invention com- 171758.68"1G3lnetallicdl'um'5, of any required 'hihadapted to be heated inany sultahl maniier as forinstance by a Bunsen but-next (notshown) which is disposed within. thevAges su ply pipe 6,- is coni an:

nectedatotheaburner an a valve 7, controls the. t of gas through thepipe 6, to the hlli... A series of end openings 8, are inzthedrum andthe air supply to human paejses through these openings.

iThe drum) 5:, is: disposed horizontally in a Q8 11) -ame a? whichhas aninter 2' iatelmdi'sposed lateral extension formed 'theprojeeting endortions of a pair of oppflsltelipdie rai s -.10. The drum 5;. 1s;mtativeymounted. 0n bearings 9-9, h: are, secured? to the rails 1010 andf thesaifig'beafii g are so disposed that the lirlrdrumvisn supontedwith its'axi'ssubstantially "parallellwi the axisof a roll 11,carried by thelatenal. extension of the'iranie a The "g'assuppl'y ipe'fi', passes through one of the 5* through oneof the bearings 9,

Specification of Letters Patent.

wet. prints on entering the machine are first roll 17 and in vertical arights-16 46, and in alinement a;

Patented July 24,1917.

Application filed July 7, 1916. Serial No. 101,22

and the burner (not shown) may be supported by one or both of the saidbearings.

The print carrier consists of apair of endless belts su erimposed oneupon the other and hereina ter referred to as an outer belt 12 and aninner belt 13. These belts are formed of absorbent material and conformin Width substantially to the length of drum 5, aroundwhich they aredisposed as shown. A roll 14, the opposite ends of whose shaft 15, arejournaled in the u rights 16-16, at the front of. su porting rame a, 'isdisposed a trifle a ove a point in horizontal alinement with the axes ofdrum 5 and roll- 11, and a second roll 17 the ends of whoseshaft- 18 arejournaled in the upri hts 16--16, is disposed in alinement with ml 14,and a trifle below a point' in horizontal alinement with the axes ofdrum 5 and; roll.

roll M the belt 12 passes upwardly and] over a roll 19 the ends of whoseshaft 20 are journaled in the upper end ortions of the up-- rights16-16, but the elt 13 is directed; horizontally and outwardly over roll:1 1k. This disposition of the belts rovides an; em

trance through which the prints can be di rected and rther adapts theoutwardly extending portion. of belt 13. to function as a sup ort onwhich the can; range preparatory to t ei'r enterin BE? tween the belts;From rolls 1? thebe 112*.

- and 13 are directed inwardly then over and banged adiacent time underroll 21 which is apt, th h inement 'e're'wit From roll 21 the belts12.and l-ttareg upwardlyand over roll 22,. whichiisin horilzontal'alinement with roll 21- andsuppontedi by bracket arms one. of which isshown me indicatedby 23. Fromroll 22 belt 1-8.v ex:-

tends to roll 11 but beltg12 is directed. downwardly and over roll 22.This disposition of the belts 12 and 13 causes the said belts toseparate at the roll 22 and it will be noted that the line of separationof the said belts is disposed outwardly and-beyond the up my.

mm a i 'ceptacle 24, whichis removably semi-red to a support formed bythe end portions of the vlower rails 2525-, which project be 0nd theuprights l6-16L From roll 22 be t 12 is directed downwardly and underroll 26 then rearwardly and under roll 27. the ends of whose shaft 28are journaled in the rear upri hts 29-29, of support a, then upwar lyand over roll 30, the ends of whose 1.

shaft-31 are journaled in the upper end portions of uprights 29 thenforwardly to.roll 19. Roll 26 is supported by a-pair of arrris one ofwhich is shownand indicated by 31'. These arms are adapted to be turnedand thereby cause the roll to move bodily .to vary the tension on belt12 .whenever found necessary. The arm shown is provided at its outerend-portion with v a laterally extending head 32 arranged so asv toslide in a slot 33 into upright 29. A thumb screw 34cpasses through athreadedopening in a lateral lug '35 and screws'into the head 32.Obviously with this construction when the thumb screw 34sis turned inone direction the roll 26 is depressed andfbelt 12 thereby tightened. Abeltadjuster is also provided for belt 13. In the present instance roll11 carries at its ends heads one of which-is shown and indicated' by 36;These heads are adapted to slide in slot 37 nin the rails-10. Thumbscrews. 38 screw into openings in the ends of the rail 10,,which alsoscrew into openings in the heads 36, so that by turning the screws-'38,the distance between the roll 11 and. the drum.5, is varied.

The several rolls previously described are.

' constructed so asto prevent skewing of the the rolls.

belts-12 and 13. This is most necessary in a device of this kind whereprints of different sizes are frequently operated upon simultaneously.Insuch instances certain-sections :of the belts become 'more wet thanothers, and this uneven wetting results in the relatively wet orti'onss'tretching'to a greater extent whi e the belt is in -m o tion than thedrier portions so that unless pi-ovi.-.

sion'is made to compensate for this uneven stretchingathe belts willcreep laterally on With the construction shown in Fig. 2it will beobserved that creeping is 'pre'v ed by reasoh of the threaded portions3943: at the. o posite end ortions shown in the roll 40. he threads 0these portions may extendin corresponding or right and defthanddirections.

The device of this invention is operated by a suitable motor arranged soas tobe connected by a sprocket chain or its equivalent].

to a'pulley 41. When the motor is in ope'r-* ation-the drum turnsin thedirection of the arrow and by reason of the portions of the belts 12 and13 which extend around Jthe drum being in frictional contact, the saidbelts move as a unit and in the direction in dicated by arrows. When theprints are ar- 22 and where thebelts w p the said }prints are substantiastraig v Obviously b;

. when not engaged ranged on the portion of the. belt 131 revir ouslydescribed the'motion of tlie sai belt carries the prints underneath theroll 14 and belt 12. It will now be noted thatwhen the prints areentered into the space" between the elts 12 and 13-thes'e move theprints upwardly so that the heat of the portion of the drum over whichthe prints are disposed gradually increases substantially throughv outthe first half of a revolution of the drum.

This is of importance because the prints are 'g' saturated with waterupon entering between the belts and unless the belts which absorb' thiswater are quic ly dried st'retchin'gand uneven 'runn'ing of thebeltswill' result. The

speed of rotation of the drum is such that the heat efl'ects'the dryingof the prints be fore these arecarried by the beltsjtofroH 17, but theprints having been dried on the curved surface of the driimhave a curlconforming to the curvature of the drum. It will now be noted that thepresence of roll 17 causes the belts on leaving the drum to vmovedownwardly. This has the died; of

curling the prints in the opposite direction and since the radius ofroll 17 is less than that of the drum it is obvious that the roll 17operates to remove the curvature from the prints imparted theretofro'mtheidrum. It will be further noted that the diameter of roll 21 issubstantially thev same as roll: '17 and that the belts 12 and ',1'3"are,isojdisposed on roll 21 that this roll will operate'to curve theprints reversely as these are carried over the said roll by the saidbelts, Wh .:I1 the prints are carriedfrom the dru they are curled in adirection opposite to that which they-tend to curl under, the action oftheir coated surfaces. But'when the prints are operated upon bytheroll-Hthey are curled in the way they tend tocurl norinsilly; In 3 passingaround the roll-2.1 howeverlfthd prints are curved in the directionfinthey are curved by the drum aii dthis rebending or recurring of theprintscomp'ensates for the bending torfcurvi'n'g made-b" roll 17 so thatwhen .theiprintslliiove 1 011 0 in that s ape fall into recepm less indiameter than roll 21,.so'

the prints adhere to th 'b move therewith around roll: 22; the relay;

sharp curvature of that rpll will-invariably operate .to detach theortion or poljfti'ons'of I the rolls. 22, tion of the ,y j a: tance ofthe paper to curl; abruptly th x .115." It will be noted that roll 22 iscom 7 deiably that if. a. P0111011 or portions-of the coated suriaees :E

hefgre the same moves into contact What is claimed as new is:

, 1. In a print drier the combination of a supporting frame, a drumrotatively mounted in the frame, a pair of endless belts having portionssuperimposed one upon-the other and trained around the drum and a pairofrolls arranged one above the other and disposed so as to direct theupper and lower runs of said belts into substantially horizontalalinement with the axis of said drum.

2. In a print drier the combination of a supporting frame having alateral extension,

a roll carried by said extension,a drum rotatively mounted in said frameand disposed with its axis substantially in alinement with the axis ofthe roll, an upper roll and a lower roll disposed adjacent to the drumand having rtions of their peripheries in alinement with the periphery/of the first named roll, an endless belt trained around said drum andaround the first named roll and disposed between the said 11 per andlower rolls,and a second endless be t trained 5 around the drum andsuperimposed on the first named belt, the second named belt beingtrainedunder the said upper roll and disposed so as to extend at an angle tothat portion of the first named belt located between the drum and thefirst named roll.

stantially a a 3. In a print drier the combination of a supportingframe, a drum rotativelymounted in the frame, a roll connected to theframe and disposed with its axis subin horizontal alinement with the.axis of t e drum, and an upper roll dis osed adjacent to the drum andhaving the ower portion of its periphery in alinement with the upperportion of the periphery of the first named roll, a third roll disposedunderneath the second roll and arranged between the drum andthe firstnamed roll endless belt trained around the drum and the first named rolland under the upper winner roll and over the-third roll an outer endlessbelt having a portion trained around the drum and so erimposed on theinner bolt, the upper an lower runs of said outer belt being disposed sothat a ortion of, the former is dis Used in an lar relation to thatportion 0 the inner be t trained around the first named rolland thelatter over and a under the third roll and successively disposed rollsfor supporting the upper an lower runs of the outer belt.

4. In a print drier the combination of a supporting frame a roll carriedby the supporting frame, a drum rotatively mounted 1n the supportingframe and having its axis substantially in horizontal alinement with theaxis of the roll, an upper roll arranged upon the other, said beltsbeing trained under the upper roll and over and under the pair of lowerrolls and over the third roll and disposed so as to separate one fromthe other at the upper roll and at the third roll,

lower rolls arranged the inner of said belts being trained around thefirst named roll, and means for supporting the outer belt.

In testimony whereof I have signedumy name to this specification thisfirst day of July, 1916. o

' WILLIAM E. STROMBEBG'.

